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Tag Archives: beatitudes

Water on Stone

19 Monday Jun 2017

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anger, beatitudes, blessedness, dignity, drops of water, eye for an eye, happiness, Holly Near, human life, Matthew, mosaic law, Pope John Paul II, reform, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, violence

awaterdripstoneChapter 5 of Matthew’s gospel is very challenging. Most of us know – or at least know of – the Beatitudes in which Jesus tells of the happiness (blessedness) of those who practice and/or endure justice and meekness and long-suffering, etc.(MT 5:38-42). The chapter doesn’t stop there, however. As Jesus lays out a new way of living – the fulfillment and next step in the evolution of the Mosaic Law, perhaps, he speaks of letting our light shine for the good of the world and then there is that most uncomfortable teaching that goes beyond anything his listeners could have expected. (MT 5:38-42) “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one to him as well.”

Interestingly, what caught my eye this morning when I first opened the USCCB (Catholic bishops) website was the topic of capital punishment. It is one of the tenets of Catholicism that I applaud wholeheartedly. This was the explanatory paragraph that I read:

The dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil. Modern society has the means of protecting itself, without definitively denying criminals the chance to reform. (Pope Saint John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae, 1995)

As we watch the frequent news reports of horrific violence in our country and around the world, these are hard sayings to accept. Reacting to violence with violence, however, is never a solution. I feel led today to examine my own heart, seeking to root out any vestiges of violence – bursts of anger and even thoughts of “tit-for-tat” – that might add to the negative energy in the world. Offering what I find as an antidote to my own failures in conscious loving might become my strength when the next challenge to my ego comes along. I’m reminded of Holly Near’s song lyrics from long ago that asked, “Can we be like drops of water falling on the stone, splashing, breaking, dispersing in air, weaker than the stone by far but be aware that, as time goes by, the rock will wear away.”

May it be so in us!

 

 

 

 

 

Juxtaposition

15 Thursday Jun 2017

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beatitudes, heart of God, justice, Matthew, mercy, obfuscation, reconciled, reconciliation, responsibility, right relationship, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, unconditional love

aolivebranchChapter 5 of Matthew’s gospel is so full of teaching that it provides a lifetime of material for reflection. The Beatitudes alone are enough! In today’s lectionary selection, however, there is a very important section on how we ought to treat those persons closest to us. (Jesus calls them our brothers, but we know he meant our sisters too.) It’s about the fact that we must be in right relationship with our neighbors before we approach God in our worship services. The very familiar text (vs. 20-26) tells us that if there is something separating us from another person we need to leave our gift at the altar to go and be reconciled. It’s that important. The interesting thing about this passage for me, however, is a simple twist in the way the recognition of our duty is expressed by Jesus. He doesn’t say, “If you recall that you have anything against your brother, go first and reconcile…” Instead, Jesus makes the job of reconciliation ours even though it is “if your brother has anything against you…”

It would seem unfair to say it is our responsibility to take the first step in such a case. It’s much easier to blame others for their misunderstanding of us or their unwillingness to come to us when we have nothing (maybe) against them. I think that Jesus is looking for two things from us here: 1. a willingness to look in a mirror to be sure that there is no obfuscation going on from our part and 2. a willingness to practice unconditional love in any situation – whether or not we share responsibility for the breach in relationship. Letting go of justice for mercy is a large-hearted step. Taking it goes a long way in moving toward the heart of God.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Abundant Blessings

12 Monday Jun 2017

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beatitudes, blessings, care, christians, closeness, comfort, commitment, communion, enduring, faithful, happy, harmony, Matthew, mercy, Pope Francis, protect, renounce, see God, spiritual communion, tenderness, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, unity, Wisdom network

unity,love and harmony by Jerrika ShiThe weekend just past was for me a time of great blessings. On Friday we welcomed a group of people – mostly new to us – who came for a workshop offered by our friend, Brigitte, here at our home. I met one of our guests, Patty, at the bus station. Patty lives in Manhattan and as we fell into easy conversation, I began to see our small town through her big city eyes. She was very interested in everything. From all reports, everyone at the workshop came and/or left very happy at all they found here. I was on the road, however, by 9:00 Saturday morning.

Saturday was full of joy in Syracuse (80 miles north) at the golden jubilee celebration of one of my companions in community for the past 50 years. By mid-afternoon I was back in the car for a glorious 2 1/2 hour ride to our Motherhouse near Albany where the energy was high. I arrived mid-stream of the annual Commitment Weekend for our lay Associates. I was happy to participate for the first commitment of four women, one of whom is a treasured member of our growing “Wisdom network.” I would think that anyone driving along the New York State Thruway during the weekend would have felt the intensity of loving, spiritual communion reaching from West to East!

Today’s lectionary readings include the gospel from Matthew, chapter 5 where Jesus preaches what we call the Beatitudes, often seen as the rule of life for Christians. Sister Mary Ellen chose this gospel reading for her jubilee celebration on Saturday as a text that has guided her living, but then she spoke of a new set of blessings given by Pope Francis as he celebrated the feast of All Saints last November in Sweden. He said on that occasion that the Beatitudes of Jesus given during the Sermon on the Mount are “the identity card” for the saints but then added that “new situations require new energy and new commitment,” and offered a new set of Beatitudes for modern Christians. Perhaps one or another or all of these will touch your heart and become a way of life and blessing for you.

– Blessed are those who remain faithful while enduring evils inflicted on them by others and forgive them from their heart.

– Blessed are those who look into the eyes of the abandoned and marginalized and show them their closeness.

– Blessed are those who see God in every person and strive to make others also discover him.

– Blessed are those who protect and care for our common home.

– Blessed are those who renounce their own comfort in order to help others.

– Blessed are those who pray and work for full communion between Christians.

“All these are messengers of God’s mercy and tenderness,” Pope Francis said. I would suggest just one change to his writing. I would suggest that we not stop at praying for Christian unity but rather pray and work for the unity of all people on earth, living in harmony in this, our common home.

Have a blessed day!

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Neighbors?

19 Sunday Feb 2017

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beatitudes, boundaries, Leviticus, love, love your neighbor as yourself, Matthew, Moses, neighbors, persecute, politics, pray, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

aneighborMy first thought after reading the lectionary texts for today was that the fifth chapter of Matthew’s gospel is worth a whole life of reflection. It isn’t only the part that we know as the Beatitudes that teaches us how to live; the whole chapter is full of deeply meaningful concepts. It is clear from this preaching of Jesus that he did, indeed, come not to destroy the Mosaic Law but to fulfill it. When we read, “You have heard it said…” it’s clear that Jesus is specifying what was right action in earlier times and that he was urging his listeners to more, to go beyond what was an earlier norm to a deeper way of living. The example is clear today.

In the reading from Leviticus, God is speaking to Moses about the way to be holy. God talks about correct behavior toward brothers and sisters, fellow citizens and “any of your people,” concluding with the statement: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. (LV 19: 1-2, 17-18) In the gospel, Jesus echoes God’s message about the neighbor with the understanding that God’s conversation with Moses was about behaviors among the tribes of Israel only, since the way of living back then was to conquer enemies who threatened others’ way of life. Jesus expanded the concept of neighbor in his day, however, by saying: You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly father…(MT 5:38-48).

We’re still having trouble with that one, it seems. Sometimes it’s even hard to love those who love us if they disagree with our politics or some other cherished belief. How can we possibly expand our hearts to people who are altogether different from us? Jesus is certainly pushing the boundaries. As I was writing the previous paragraph I had a new thought. If Jesus was talking about an expansion of consciousness from the time of Moses to his era, shouldn’t we – who live as far away from Jesus in time as he did from Moses – be even further along in seeing everyone as a beloved neighbor than Jesus expected the people of his time to be? We could say the world is more complex today and there are more people to admit into our “neighborhood” so we can’t be expected to love them all. Look at all the horrific things that are going on! How can we love “those people?” Going back to the gospel I repeat the one sentence that I see as a beginning answer to it all. (See above) When Jesus tells the people to love their enemies, he adds: Pray for those who persecute you. No one is persecuting me personally but there is a lot of persecution in our world. If I were to pray for those I consider enemies of the USA or of Christianity or of any other way I define myself in the world, how would it change me? I guess there’s only one way to find out!

 

 

 

 

 

The Message: Clear and Direct

05 Sunday Feb 2017

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America, beatitudes, books, Christian Scriptures, clothe, false accusation, Hebrew Scriptures, hungry, Isaiah, Lectionary, light, malicious speech, oppressed, oppression, share, shelter, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

afoodI carried a satchel full of books with me this week, texts that we have considered already and others that will inspire our conversation over the next two days. I always feel comfortable in the company of books; just having them in the room with me is sometimes enough. This morning, however, as I read the lectionary texts for today, I was again reminded of the timelessness of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. The messages fairly jump off the page in their similarity (Isaiah and Matthew’s Beatitudes) and appropriateness for this moment in the history of the United States of America. The messages of how we are to become light in this world are unmistakable. We should all read them aloud and often. The prophet Isaiah says this:

Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless; clothe the naked when you see them and do not turn your back on your own. Then your light shall break forth like the dawn and your wound shall quickly be healed…If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; if you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted, then light shall rise for you from the darkness and the gloom shall become for you like midday. (IS 58: 7-10)

How can we miss the import of these words? What is our willingness quotient and how might we respond? The message is more urgent than ever now. How can we ignore it?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shining Lights

07 Tuesday Jun 2016

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achievements, beatitudes, gratitude, humility, interior beauty, Jesus, let your light shine, light, Matthew, recognition, talents, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

alightshineAt the end of the text in Matthew that we call the Beatitudes (Ch. 5), there is encouragement from Jesus for all of us to let your light shine before others so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father. In that single sentence Jesus has told the people that they (and all of us) have in them the wherewithal to mirror God’s presence to the world as well as the fact that our good deeds are to be seen by others. Those words should keep us from the false humility that denies our achievements and convince us that we have been gifted by God with interior beauty and goodness. The caveat is the last part. We need to remember at all times where our gifts and talents come from. So in the midst of receiving the praise of others, we acknowledge what we are able to do and who we are but also give the glory to God who has given us breath and life and the inspiration necessary for our good deeds and achievements. It is a dance of joy but also a delicate balance of receiving and letting go. All it takes is recognition and gratitude: simple but not easy, the on-going work of a lifetime.

 

 

 

 

 

Wisdom in Stonington, Maine

06 Monday Jun 2016

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beatitudes, Cynthia Bourgeault, fierce bonding love, harmony, heart-centered living, Jubilee Year of Mercy, Maine, prayer, silence, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Wisdom Schools

aheartbeachOnce again today, I arise to the feeling that I live a life of privilege. I arrived last evening with two friends at Stonington, Maine where we will spend the entire week at a gathering of “Wisdom seekers” in the company of our teacher, Cynthia Bourgeault, in the place that she calls home. Part of the island community of Deer Isle, it was incorporated as a town in 1897 and has gradually become the number one port in Maine for the value of its fisheries, primarily lobsters.

I am sitting this morning in a sweet little cottage room in an eleven-unit motel, family-owned for generations. The hospitality is as lovely as the room itself and I have already downed my first cup of in-room coffee (with real half-and-half added). The harbor is across the street and each of the two large venues where we will meet are two minutes away from here. I hear that the best coffee in Maine is just down the street and there is a deck at the water’s edge owned by the motel for sitting in the peace of the ocean to drink it all in.

We gathered in the Town Hall last night to greetings and hugs from friends with whom we have shared past Wisdom Schools and others from across the country whose experiences of Cynthia and her teaching have been elsewhere. It was clear that we all share a desire for the depth of wisdom and unity consciousness. Of special note for me was our closing prayer. Into the silence we chanted in harmony a petition prompted by one of the Beatitudes from today’s gospel (MT 5: 1-12) Lord, as you will, Lord as you know, have mercy; have mercy.

In this Jubilee Year of Mercy proclaimed by Pope Francis, I am often struck as I was yesterday by the breadth of a term that is sometimes reduced to something like pity. As I have most likely said here before, at its deepest level mercy can be understood as a fierce bonding love that impels us to become God’s presence in the world. That last clause is my own conclusion of what such a love can generate, but how else would such a grace be reciprocated?

As we gather for prayer, for consideration of the themes of heart-centered living, for the conversations that will undoubtedly be deep and meaningful, we offer our presence here for the good of the world – for people everywhere, for all living creatures and in gratitude for the on-going care of the One who motivates us all. I invite your solidarity in prayer and intention with us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Short Stories

09 Tuesday Jun 2015

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beatitudes, Jesus, light, light of the world, Matthew, salt of the earth, shine, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

lightshineOccasionally when I am rattling on about something, not coming to the point, I hear my father in my head saying, “Short stories!” and I know it’s time to summarize. This morning’s readings give me a clear opportunity to do so. In Matthew’s gospel, following the Beatitudes, Jesus makes comparisons, the crux of which says, “You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world.” (MT 5:13-16) He explains what those metaphors can mean for us but this morning I’ll leave that to your imagination as you ponder how you can become salt and light.

I’m led to add the last line of the gospel passage since it is heard twice this morning, first as the gospel acclamation and then as conclusion of the gospel message itself (for emphasis perhaps). Let your light shine before others, Jesus says, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father!

Enough said.

The Body of Hope

08 Monday Jun 2015

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beatitudes, comforted, compassion, Corinthians, encouragement, holding one in prayer, Jesus, mourn, pain, suffering, the body of hope, The Sermon on the Mount, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

comfortPerhaps because the weather promises to be wet and wild today, making my body know it is aging, my first thoughts upon waking were of suffering. Watching the news puts the topic front and center – especially because of all the destruction from floods and tornadoes – but also in my mind were so many conversations I have had over the past week with people whose lives have been tinged with sorrow or disease that has turned their world upside down. As is often the case, I found Scripture to be a reference for reflection on the topic and a place to find some solace. First it was Paul  who engaged the topic (2COR 1:1-7) saying, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of all compassion and the God of all encouragement, who encourages us in our every affliction, so that we may be able to encourage those who are in any affliction with the encouragement with which we ourselves are encouraged by God.” Although a little wordy, the meaning of Paul’s message should engage us, I think, in an inventory of all the times and ways that we have felt God’s presence in difficult circumstances. In that way, we might be able to listen deeply to others when they need an encouraging word or a shoulder to cry on. Note that I did not say “a solution to their suffering” because that is not always possible. Rather, Paul speaks about sharing in encouragement as we share in sufferings and thus have a hope born of compassion.

In addition to Paul’s voice, today we have the teaching of Jesus in his sermon called The Beatitudes or the Sermon on the Mount (MT 5:1-12) which includes Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. There is no when or how in the promise but only the promise itself. So I guess it all comes down to the theological virtue of hope. Just as in everyday life when we hope with expectation of fulfillment of our desires, so too in our faith. The added component for people of faith, however, is that as we place our trust in Christ’s promises, we rely not only on our own strength to realize our hopes but also on the grace of the Holy Spirit and the support of the community of believers.

All of this brings me back to my earliest thoughts, recalling those people whom I know to be in pain. Holding them in prayer – each in turn and all together – will be my responsibility and my offering today to the building up of the body of hope. Won’t you join me there?

Saints in the Making

01 Saturday Nov 2014

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All Saints Day, beatitudes, children of God, John, John the Evangelist, Matthew, psalm 24, saints, St. Paul, The Sermon on the Mount, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

allsaintsToday, after a night of “trick-or-treat” where even animals were dressed in costume as someone other than themselves (See the NBC Evening News, 10/31), we celebrate the saints. St. Paul used to call those he encountered on his travels “saints” to impress on them, perhaps, what John the Evangelist meant when he wrote, “See what love God has bestowed on us that we may be called children of God. Yes, we are God’s children now…What we shall be later has not yet been revealed…when it is revealed we shall be like God…(1 JN 3:1-3). This all presupposes an understanding of the process of becoming mature, fully human persons – not perfect at the outset, but by the time we meet God, ready and able to look into God’s eyes and see ourselves as God sees us because we have done our best to become whole/holy. Psalm 24:6, the refrain for this morning, sings repeatedly, “This is the people that longs to see your face…” It seems to me that this is a good expression of the impetus for living life in the best way we can, which is, I believe, all that God asks.

It is true that history focuses on the “great saints” – many of whom have led lives of luxury or debauchery until some cataclysmic event or deep suffering has caused their conversion. Happily, today we are able to point as well to those whose steadiness and goodness all their lives have given us such example that we – if not in an official way – recognize them as saints. The Sermon on the Mount (MT 5:1-12) gives us this morning a “guidebook” of practices that lead to the fullness of life that we call sainthood. Jesus calls “Blessed” those who are poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek and merciful, the clean of heart, the peacemakers, those who hunger and thirst and/or are persecuted for the sake of righteousness.

Perhaps today is a day to reflect on what Jesus set out for us as a starter kit to saintliness, seeking in our lives examples of the “categories” listed above. And remember: God is on our side as we seek; “we are already God’s children!” And then we might look around – with God’s eyes – for other “saints in the making” and spend this day as a feast of gratitude. Happy All Saints Day!

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